Arsenal will travel to the Madejski Stadium, to take on relegation-threatened Reading, in a Monday night Premier League fixture.

The Gunners will want to put the disappointing Capital One Cup defeat, to League Two side Bradford City, behind them and pick up three more points in the fight for Champions League football next season.

Reading, meanwhile, are in desperate need of points (wins, preferably). The Royals are 20th and last in the league, after QPR's first win of the season.

Where to Watch Live

Kick-off is set for 8 pm GMT. Live coverage is on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 1 HD.

Overview

Brian McDermott will not have fond memories of the last encounter with Arsenal. Reading squandered a four goal advantage to lose the Capital One Cup tie 5-7, in extra time.

That disastrous result aside, Reading have only won twice all season (and only once in the league) and McDermott has an almost impossible task to save the club from relegation this season. The club has only nine points from 16 games so far and the high of a 2-1 win over Everton in October has since turned into a five game losing streak. Reading come into this game on the back of a 3-0 defeat to Sunderland, at the Stadium of Light.

Arsenal, meanwhile, could not have asked for a better match to recover from the Bradford City humiliation. Reading have conceded 31 goals this season (second only to Wigan's 32) and failed to score in three of the last five games.

The club comes into this game after a 2-0 home win over West Brom last week. Granted the win was controversial but it did help erase some memories of earlier results. The problem, though, is that Wenger has lost three of his last five games; the win over the Baggies' is the only win since late-November.

Arsene Wenger may have a full-blown crisis on his hands at the Emirates but the chance of an away game gives him and the players a chance to play with a little less pressure and, hopefully, deliver a strong performance.

Team Form

Reading

Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): L L L L L

LastMatch: Sunderland 3 - 0 Reading

Arsenal

Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): D W L L D

LastMatch: Bradford City 1 (3) - 1 (2) Arsenal

Team News

Reading will be boosted by the return of forwards Jason Roberts and Pavel Pogrebnyak. However, the two are unlikely to start, with Noel Hunt and Adam Le Fondre expected to retain their places. Jimmy Kebe and Jem Karacan are both recovering from respective injuries but neither is match fit as yet. And Sean Morrison remains unavailable with an ankle problem. Goal keeper Alex McCarthy is out till May, at least, with a shoulder injury.

French international Olivier Giroud returns to the Arsenal squad and he may be joined by compatriot Laurent Koscielny; the defender is likely, however, to only start from the bench. England international Theo Walcott is still not completely fit after his calf injury but Wenger may opt to risk him anyway.

Wenger will likely revert to his strongest midfield trio of Santi Cazorla, Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere for this match, after the former Everton man was rested in the midweek fixture.